Study of the Antibacterial Efficiency of Zinc Pyrithione Treated Cotton Fabric for Shoe Insoles: Optimizing the Zinc Content and Developing a Spectrophotometric Method

Abstract

Nowadays, regarding the important interest to hygienic conditions and human comfort and health, in this study, we were particularly focused on developing functional cotton for safety shoes insoles worn as personal protective equipment (PPE). In fact, numerous persons are exposed to several shoes problems such as bad odors caused by bacteria and many diseases due to foot infections. For this purpose, an AgNPs free antibacterial ecofriendly treatment respecting Oekotex standard 100 and Detox Campaign using zinc pyrithione compound was realized based on an experimental design to optimize simultaneously the zinc fixation rate under an exhaustion process and the antibacterial efficiency. The fixed zinc pyrithione content was analyzed by ICP-MS spectrometry as a reference method and a spectrophotometric method as an alternative, more straightforward, and cost-effective method. A good correlation between the two methods was established. Then, the impact of zinc pyrithione and zinc content on antibacterial effects was investigated. As a result, 173 mg/kg of fixed zinc obtained by applying only 0.14% of pure zinc pyrithione with the optimized exhaustion process showed a significant antibacterial effect. Furthermore, 0.28% of pure zinc pyrithione ensured an excellent fastness to abrasion and sweat of the antibacterial treated cotton fabric tested against bacteria Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus Epidermidis.

Keywords

• cotton
• antibacterial activity
• zinc pyrithione
• ecofriendly treatment
• icp-ms
• spectrophotometry